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The butterfly effect : a novel / by McKenny, Rachel Mans,author.;
"Is there such a thing as an anti-social butterfly? If there were, Greta Oto would know about it--and totally relate. An entomologist, Greta far prefers the company of bugs to humans, and that's okay, because people don't seem to like her all that much anyway, with the exception of her twin brother, Danny, though they've recently had a falling out. So when she lands a research gig in the rainforest, she leaves it all behind. But when Greta learns that Danny has suffered an aneurysm and is now hospitalized, she abandons her research and hurries home to the middle of nowhere America to be there for her brother. But there's only so much she can do, and unfortunately just like insects, humans don't stay cooped up in their hives either--they buzz about and ... socialize. Coming home means confronting all that she left behind, including her lousy soon-to-be sister-in-law, her estranged mother, and her ex-boyfriend Brandon who has conveniently found a new non-lab-exclusive partner with shiny hair, perfect teeth, and can actually remember the names of the people she meets right away. Being that Brandon runs the only butterfly conservatory in town, and her dissertation is now in jeopardy, taking that job, being back home, it's all creating chaos of Greta's perfectly catalogued and compartmentalized world. But real life is messy, and Greta will have to ask herself if she has the courage to open up for the people she loves, and for those who want to love her. The Butterfly Effect is an unconventional tale of self-discovery, navigating relationships, and how sometimes it takes stepping outside of our comfort zone to find what we need the most."--Amazon.com.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Entomologists; Introverts; Twins; Estranged families; Female friendship;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Cold crematorium : reporting from the land of Auschwitz / by Debreczeni, József,1905-1978,author.; Freedland, Jonathan,1967-writer of foreword.; Olchváry, Paul,translator.; translation of:Debreczeni, József,1905-1978.Hideg krematórium.English.;
"The first English language edition of a lost memoir by an Auschwitz survivor, offering a shocking and deeply moving perspective on life within the camps. When Jaozsef Debreczeni, a prolific Hungarian-language journalist and poet, arrived in Auschwitz in 1944, his life expectancy was forty-five minutes. This was how long it took for the half-dead prisoners to be sorted into groups, stripped, and sent to the gas chambers. He beat the odds and survived the "selection," which led to twelve horrifying months of incarceration and slave labor in a series of camps, ending in the "Cold Crematorium"-the so-called hospital of the forced labor camp Dörnhau, where prisoners too weak to work awaited execution. But as Soviet and Allied troops closed in on the camps, local Nazi commanders-anxious about the possible consequences of outright murder-decided to leave the remaining prisoners to die. Debreczeni survived the liberation of Auschwitz and immediately recorded his experiences in Cold Crematorium, one of the harshest, most merciless indictments of Nazism ever written. This haunting memoir, rendered in the precise and unsentimental prose of an accomplished journalist, is an eyewitness account of incomparable literary quality. It was published in the Hungarian language in 1950, but it was never translated, due to Cold War hostilities and rising antisemitism. More than 70 years later, this masterpiece that was nearly lost to time is now being published in more than 15 different languages for the first time, and will finally take its rightful place among the greatest works of Holocaust literature"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Debreczeni, József, 1905-1978.; Auschwitz (Concentration camp); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Jews, Hungarian; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A funny kind of paradise / by Owens, Jo,1961-author.;
When her husband left her with a baby, a toddler and a fledgling business, Francesca managed--she wasn't always gentle or patient, but the business thrived and Chris and Angelina had food to eat. At nearly 70, she feels she's earned a peaceful retirement. But when a massive stroke leaves her voiceless, partially paralyzed and wholly reliant on the staff of an extended care facility, it seems her freedom is lost. However, Francesca is still clear-headed and sharp, and she knows one thing: she wants to live. She savours her view of a majestic chestnut tree through the hospital window, and speaks in her mind to her beloved friend Anna, dead for two years. The daily tasks and dramas of the rotating crew of care aides tether her to the world: Young Lily, eager to fall in love and regularly falling apart when things don't work out; Michiko, with her spiky hair and tattoos and wicked sense of humour; Molly, endlessly kind and skilled in her work; Blaire, cold and enigmatic. Amidst the indignities of bed baths and a feeding tube, Francesca is surprised to experience flashes of hilarity and joy, even the blossoming of a new friendship with a fellow patient. But as she reflects to Anna on her dutiful son and her troubled and absent daughter, regrets and painful realizations rise to the surface. For the first time, there is nowhere for Francesca to hide from her own choices, and she must reckon with her past before it's too late. A Funny Kind of Paradise is a warm and insightful novel about one woman's opportunity for reinvention--for unconditional love, acceptance and closure--in the unlikeliest of places.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Mother and child; Cerebrovascular disease; Long-term care facilities; Older people;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The wedding dress sewing circle : a novel / by Ryan, Jennifer,1973-author.;
"Three plucky women lift the spirits of homefront brides in wartime Britain, where clothes rationing leaves little opportunity for pomp or celebration-even at weddings-in this heartwarming novel based on true events, from the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir. After renowned fashion designer Cressida Westcott loses both her home and her design house in the London Blitz, she has nowhere to go but the family manor house she fled decades ago. Praying that her niece and nephew will be more hospitable than her brother had been, she arrives with nothing but the clothes she stands in, at a loss as to how to rebuild her business from a quaint country village. Her niece, Violet Westcott, is thrilled that her famous aunt is coming to stay-the villagehas been interminably dull with all the men off fighting. But just as Cressida arrives, so does Violet's conscription letter. It couldn't have come at a worse time; how will she ever find a suitably aristocratic husband if she has to spend her days wearing a frumpy uniform and doing war work? Meanwhile, the local vicar's daughter, Grace Carlisle, is trying in vain to repair her mother's gown, her only chance of a white wedding. When Cressida Westcott appears at the local Sewing Circle meeting, Grace asksfor her help-but Cressida has much more to teach the ladies than just simple sewing skills. Before long, Cressida's spirit and ambition galvanizes the village group into action, and they find themselves mending wedding dresses not only for local brides,but for brides across the country. And as the women dedicate themselves to helping others celebrate love, they might even manage to find it for themselves ..."--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Fashion designers; Sewing; Wedding costume; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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In My Time of Dying How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife [electronic resource] : by Junger, Sebastian.aut; cloudLibrary;
A near-fatal health emergency leads to this powerful reflection on death—and what might follow—by the bestselling author of Tribe and The Perfect Storm. For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger traveled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet the closest he ever came to death was the summer of 2020 while spending a quiet afternoon at the New England home he shared with his wife and two young children. Crippled by abdominal pain, Junger was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Once there, he began slipping away. As blackness encroached, he was visited by his dead father, inviting Junger to join him. “It’s okay,” his father said. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’ll take care of you.” That was the last thing Junger remembered until he came to the next day when he was told he had suffered a ruptured aneurysm that he should not have survived. This experience spurred Junger—a confirmed atheist raised by his physicist father to respect the empirical—to undertake a scientific, philosophical, and deeply personal examination of mortality and what happens after we die. How do we begin to process the brutal fact that any of us might perish unexpectedly on what begins as an ordinary day? How do we grapple with phenomena that science may be unable to explain? And what happens to a person, emotionally and spiritually, when forced to reckon with such existential questions? In My Time of Dying is part medical drama, part searing autobiography, and part rational inquiry into the ultimate unknowable mystery.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Death & Dying; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
© 2024., HarperCollins Canada,
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The devil's trick : how Canada fought the Vietnam War / by Boyko, John,1957-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Through the lens of six remarkable participants in the Vietnam War, some well-known, others obscure, bestselling historian John Boyko recounts Canada's often-overlooked involvement in that conflict as peacemaker, combatant and provider of sanctuary. When Brigadier General Sherwood Lett arrived in Vietnam over a decade before American troops, he and the Canadians under his command risked their lives trying to enforce an unstable peace while questioning whether they were American lackeys--or handmaidens to a new war. As American battleships steamed across the Pacific, Canadian diplomat Blair Seaborn was meeting secretly in Hanoi with North Vietnam's prime minister; if Seaborn could convince the Americans to accept his roadmap to peace, those ships could be turned around before war began. Claire Culhane worked in a Canadian hospital in Vietnam and then returned home to implore Canadians to stop supporting what she demed an immoral war. Joe Erickson was among 30,000 young Americans who evaded the draft by heading north; Doug Carey was among 20,000 Canadians heading the other way to fight. Rebecca Trinh and her family fled Saigon and joined the waves of desperate Indochinese refugees, thousands of whom forged new lives in Canada. Through these wide-ranging and fascinating accounts, Boyko exposes what he calls the Devil's wiliest trick: convincing leaders that war is desirable, the public that it's acceptable and combatants that what they are doing and seeing is normal, or at least necessary. In uncovering Canada's side of the story, he reveals the many secret and forgotten ways that Canada not only fought the Vietnam War but was shaped by its lies and consequences."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Vietnam War, 1961-1975;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The end of getting lost : a novel / by Kirman, Robin,author.;
"The year is 1996--a time before cell phones, online status updates, and location tags--a time when you could travel to a remote corner of the world and disappear, if you chose to do so. This is where we meet Gina Reinhold and Duncan Lowy, a young couple of creatives, madly in love, traveling around Europe for their honeymoon. Or, Gina thinks it's her honeymoon--that's what Duncan has told her. She's just suffered a head injury while exploring the ruins of the Berlin Wall and now she can't remember the last year of her life. She can't even remember her mysterious accident, only waking up in the hospital with, thankfully, her beloved and doting Duncan by her side, ready to whisk her away to explore the world's most romantic locales. But in reality, Gina hasn't seen or spoken to Duncan in months. So why--and how--is he suddenly standing vigil at her bedside, miles from home and anyone they know? They seem madly in love now, but for how long can Duncan keep this charade alive, and how far will he go to keep Gina's past hidden from her? As they hop borders across Europe, the past catching them at every new destination, we see that Gina's memories might not be as elusive as her injury leads Duncan to believe ... The End of Getting Lost is a literary thriller and a love story, a tightrope act of deception as much as it is an elegant exploration of love and marriage, and our expectations of both when mirrored against reality. With notes of Patricia Highsmith, Caroline Kepnes, and Lauren Groff, Robin Kirman has spun a delicious tale of deceit, redemption, and fighting for who and what you love-no matter the costs"--
Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Deception; Head; Love; Man-woman relationships; Memory disorders;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The damage / by Wahrer, Caitlin,author.;
"When a small-town family is pushed to the brink, how far will they go to protect one of their own? A propulsive, gets-under-your-skin read about what we will do in the name of love and blood Tony has always looked out for his younger brother, Nick. So when he's called to a hospital bed where Nick is lying battered and bruised after a violent attack, his protective instincts flare, and a white-hot rage begins to build. Nick didn't ask for any of this. One moment he was partying at college; the next, he was at the center of an investigation threatening to tear not only him, but his entire family, apart. The real trouble? He can't remember a thing about what happened at the bar that night. And now his attacker, out on bail, is disputing Nick's version of what happened. Tony's wife, Julia, always knew that her husband's younger brother would be a huge part of their lives. As a a small-town New England lawyer, she works with kids like Nick all the time. She is determined to use her professional connections and keen intellect to make the best possible case for Nick. When Detective Rice gets assigned to the case, Julia feels they're in good hands. Especially because she senses that Rice, too, understands how things can quickly get complicated. Very complicated. As Julia tries to help her brother-in-law, she sees Tony's desire for revenge growing by the day. She wants justice for Nick, too, but Tony's preoccupation iss Julia tries to help her brother-in-law, she sees Tony's desire for revenge growing by the day. She wants justice for Nick, too, but Tony's preoccupation is scaring her. And before long, she finds herself asking: does she really know what her husband is capable of? Or of what she herself is?"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Psychological fiction.; Amnesia; Families; Memory; Violence;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Before we were yours : a novel / by Wingate, Lisa,author.;
"Two families, generations apart, are forever changed by a heartbreaking injustice in this poignant novel, inspired by a true story, for readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale. Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge--until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents--but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiance, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis,a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals--in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country--Lisa Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Brothers and sisters; Kidnapping victims; Kidnapping; Orphanages; Families; Family secrets;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 3
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While you were out : an intimate family portrait of mental illness in an era of silence / by Kissinger, Meg,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."From award-winning journalist Meg Kissinger, a searing memoir of a family besieged by mental illness, as well as an incisive exploration of the systems that failed them and a testament to the love that sustained them. Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg Kissinger's family seemed to live a charmed life. With eight kids and two loving parents, the Kissingers radiated a warm, boisterous energy. Whether they were spending summer days on the shores of Lake Michigan, barreling down the ski slopes, or navigating the trials of their Catholic school, the Kissingers always knew how to live large and play hard. But behind closed doors, a harsher reality was unfolding. A heavily-medicated mother hospitalized for anxiety and depression, a manic father prone to violence, and children in the throes of bipolar disorder and depression, two of whom would take their own lives. Through it all, the Kissingers faced the world with their signature dark humor and the unspoken family rule--never talk about it. While You Were Out begins as the personal story of one family's struggles, then opens outward as Kissinger details how childhood tragedy catalyzed a journalism career focused on exposing our country's flawed mental health care. Combining the intimacy of memoir with the rigor of investigative reporting, the book explores the consequences of shame, the havoc of botched public policy, and the hope offered by new treatment strategies. This is a story of one family's love and devotion in the face of relentless struggle. It is a book for anyone who cares about someone with mental illness. In other words, it is a book for everyone"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Kissinger, Meg.; Kissinger, Meg; Kissinger family.; Families of the mentally ill; Mental illness; Mentally ill; Photography of families.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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